Computer users may access and share information through various local and wide area computer networks, including proprietary networks as well as public networks such as the Internet. Typically, a web browser installed on a user's computing device facilitates access to and interaction with information located at various network servers identified by, for example, associated uniform resource locators (URLs). Social-networking websites may facilitate the sharing of user-generated content. Such websites may include, be linked with, or provide platforms for applications enabling users to view or interact with “profile” pages created or customized by other users. A set of rules may govern users' ability to view or interact with other users' profile pages, and a user's profile page may include user-declared information such as contact information, background information, job or career information, and interests.
A social network may be a social structure made of individuals, groups, entities, or organizations represented by nodes that are tied (connected) to each other by one or more specific types of interdependency. Social-network (graph) analysis may view social relationships, in terms of network theory, as nodes and edges. Nodes may represent the individual actors within the social network, and edges may represent the relationships between individual actors. The resulting graph-based structure(s) may very complex. There may be many kinds of edges between nodes. A social network (or social graph) may be a map of all relevant edges between or among all nodes being studied.